THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 2:13-17
“Many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples.” (Mark 2:15)
The church is not a gathering of saints, but of sinners that God accepts as saints.
What we really have in common in the church is our desperate condition and need for Jesus.
It strikes me often how sinners were drawn to Jesus, but often are not drawn to church.
When one immoral woman was encouraged to seek out a church, she observed:
‘Why would I go there, they’ll only make me feel worse than I already do.’
This is so sad, and even worse, it is a betrayal of our identity and calling as church.
We are not those who have overcome sin, but who have been welcomed despite sin.
God has absorbed the guilt and shame of our sin, to welcome us back to His table.
If the church excludes sinners, then I must be excluded too.
The problem with the religious leaders was not that they were not sick.
Their problem was that they didn’t see themselves as sick, not like others.
As Jesus followers, we of all people should know how much sinners need Jesus.
May we not put up walls that keep sinners out; they need a doctor too, like us.
Praise God Jesus welcomes sinners to His table; it means I am welcome too.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to realize that my sin is even more serious than I realize… which only makes Your grace all the more amazing!